Project Ajax - Cebex

CRANEFIELD COLLEGE OF PROJECT AND PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT

Individual Assignment

FOR

MODULE M1

Please include the following declaration:

“I/We hereby declare that this assignment is entirely my/our own work, and that it has not previously been submitted to any other Higher Education Institution. I/We also declare that all published and unpublished sources have been fully acknowledged and properly referenced. This includes figures, tables and exhibits. Where modified by me/us, this has also been indicated.”

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Contents

Executive Summary        

1.        Introduction        

2.        Problems and Causes        

2.1.        Poor Scheduling (Schedule slippages)        

2.2.        Poor risk management planning (lack thereof)        

2.2.1.        Risk identification        

2.2.2.        Risk analysis / assessment        

2.2.3.        Plan risk response        

2.2.4.        Monitor and control the risk        

2.3.        Lack of team project leadership and management        

2.3.1.        Leadership        

2.3.2.        Team building        

2.3.3.        Motivation        

2.3.4.        Influencing        

2.3.5.        Communication        

2.3.6.        Negotiation        

3.        Final conclusion        

4.        Bibliography        

Executive Summary

Ajax is the code name given by CEBEX for a high-tech security system project funded by the U.S Department of Defence (DOD).

CEBEX Corporation is a huge defence company with 120 000 employees’ worldwide and annual sales in excess of US$30 billion. CEBEX has five major business areas which are, Aeronautics, Electronic Systems, Information & Technology Services, Integrated Systems & Solutions, and Space Solutions. CEBEX has leveraged through its technical expertise and political connections to become a major player in this growing market.

CEBEX has many defence projects under contract with the U.S Department of Defence (DOD). Ajax, the code name given by CEBEX for a high-tech security system project funded by the U.S Department of Defence (DOD).

1. Introduction

Project Ajax is run by Tran, the project manager, with a core team of 30 full-time hardware and software engineers. Ajax is one of several new projects sponsored by the Integrated Systems & Solutions division aimed at the homeland security business.  Ajax is one of several projects directed at designing, developing, and installing a security system at an important government installation.

During the execution of the Alpha tests, system failures were experienced and these have dealt the project a total of 5 weeks to debug and resolve. The project was dealt a further blow when the Alpha III test became non-responsive after the switch was turned on. These delays have had a negative impact to the team as emotions ran high, screams were heard down the hall after news were made regarding this, and team morale hit an all-time low, as team members were seen taking lonesome walks in the parking lot  soon after the failure of the Alpha III test.

The authors have identified a number of causes that have jointly contributed to the failure of the Alpha tests, thus the objective to propose solutions alleviate the poor scheduling, lack of risk management, and improve the team cohesion and project leadership.

1. Problems and Causes

Based on the case study analysis, it is evident that the main problem the Ajax project has encountered is with the constant system failures experienced whenever the Alpha tests are conducted. These system failures have resulted in delayed and missed project milestones due to the debugging time required to resolve the system issues. The Alpha I test execution, although conducted a week ahead of plan, had encountered technical issues which required two weeks of debugging. The Alpha II testing, which was conducted on schedule, also failed to perform and required three weeks of debugging before moving over to the next phase. The third test, Alpha III, was not responsive when the switched was turned on, raising the teams emotions as screams were heard down the hall, and further dampened the moral of the project team to its lowest levels, as team members were seen by themselves to their cars.

The failures of the Alpha tests, has had a negative impact on project performance and the project team. Performance bonuses were based or dependant on the achievement of project milestones, the schedule slippage means no performance bonuses for the team. As this becomes more apparent with the reoccurring system failures, the low morale and high emotions are both visible and audible.  

The below was identified as contributing causes to the identified case problem;

1. Poor scheduling
2. Poor risk management planning (lack thereof)
3. Manage project team

1. Poor Scheduling (Schedule slippages)

The project manager had a two day team building retreat with all project stakeholders, whereby the time was used to go over the major project objectives and unveil the base project plan. The team bought into the project mission and the technical challenges the project will encounter, and the project kicked off on a high. The project plan was built around a series of 5 tests, each test being a more rigorous verification of the total system performance. Passing each test presents a key milestone achieved for the project and missing these set milestones is not an option for the team as performance bonuses are dependent on achieving these key milestones. The project manager, knowingly that the proven technology has not been applied in the field in this manner before, and that this type of integration will test the ingenuity and patience of the project team fails to schedule in some schedule reserves into the project plan to avoid any uncertainty that might lead to some delayed timelines. Adding schedule reserves will act as a buffer that will absorb any unforeseen delays that might be realised during the project. Strategically adding the project will still meet its planned milestones, provided the debugging doesn’t take forever, and the morale of the team will hopefully be lifted as they'll be in a position to get performance bonuses.